Compassion fatigue can be a serious occupational hazard for those in any kind of helping profession, with a majority of those in the field reporting experiencing at least some degree of it in their lives. This is no surprise, as it is typically those with the most empathy who are the most at risk. Compassion… Continue reading The Cost of Caring: 10 Ways to Prevent Compassion Fatigue
Tag: health
Get Dizzy Upon Standing? Could Be Sign of Dementia
Get Dizzy Upon Standing? Could Be Sign of Dementia By Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, July 25, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Are you a middle-aged person who tends to feel a little woozy when you stand up? If so, new research suggests you might need to worry more than most about developing dementia later in… Continue reading Get Dizzy Upon Standing? Could Be Sign of Dementia
Piano lessons for Baisol
Piano Lessons for Baisol Mom has a way that grows around her when she is playing piano. She begins to feel the skill of playing as a lifeline to something in herself. The way her attitude changes towards some things is remarkable. But perhaps most jarring to many, but I’m so lucky to be in… Continue reading Piano lessons for Baisol
December 28, 2017: Finding a little joy in a dangerous situation
Mom demonstrated to me that she was still not only capable of playing piano but derived so much pleasure from it that getting to her piano sometimes is more important than doing so safely. When I go over real-world options about this situation? I wouldn’t have it any other way.
November 29, 2017: Getting settled after a few years
There are many triggers that you will discover while taking care of your loved elder. Perhaps the most obvious are the ones where current ways of dealing with the reality are in conflict with prior ways. This is true especially on holidays. The last year we got a lot stronger, even if it is still… Continue reading November 29, 2017: Getting settled after a few years
November 21, 2017: What’s good for them will often terrify you
Things don’t necessarily go as well as all of this below, often, anyhow– but there are moments that remind me just how hard Mom is working all day every day to try and hold on to whatever she can. She is not giving up, and moments below make that clear. The hardest part of helping… Continue reading November 21, 2017: What’s good for them will often terrify you
November 16, 2017: Aftermath of respite and attacks on my neighbour
The saga of various attacks on my neighbour, an elderly woman whose mental struggles of decades was weaponized against her to get her apartment (for major Vancouver $$) is interwoven with what Donna was like upon returning from a visit to a respite locale to get myself a break.
July 25, 2017: Mom scares me by being normal
Much behind the piano, the second biggest improvement in our home has been me getting motivated enough to reclaim mom’s garden for her, and now myself. When I lived here without mom a few years ago (and I was living with a partner at the time), I managed to get the garden half decent, growing… Continue reading July 25, 2017: Mom scares me by being normal
July 14, 2017: Two years sober and smokeless
Nothing scared me more than failure when I decided to make this work. Nothing seemed a more sure fire recipe for disaster than on again, off again drinking problems mixed with the emotional minefield that is this process. I made it more than a month when Mom first moved home, but foolishly decided to have… Continue reading July 14, 2017: Two years sober and smokeless
June 30, 2017: Thoughts while dropping mom off for a few days respite
Mom has a lovely way of saying things that make a huge difference in my feeling useful, and dropping them in times and places that make everything easier. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes it’s possible to make it a lot harder on me, and she accidentally does this as well… but when she helps by… Continue reading June 30, 2017: Thoughts while dropping mom off for a few days respite